In 1987, Blakely accompanied tenor Neil Mackie in the world premiere of Kenneth Leighton's song cycle Earth, Sweet Earth.[3] He has recorded seven CDs, including Beethoven's Spring Sonata with Lorraine McAslan, which was declared 'first choice' of all available versions by BBC Radio 3's CD Review.[1] His many pupils have included Alisdair Hogarth who said that "John was brilliant and was a master of helping you completely get your head around an issue in a piece by summing it up in one sentence".[4]
^Hughes, Patrick (ed.). Highgate School Register 1833โ1988 (7th ed.). p. 331.
^Music and Musicians International โ Volume 36, Issue 4 โ Page 34 1987 "On July 6th, also at the Pump Room, Neil Mackie (tenor) with John Blakely (piano) gave the World premier of Kenneth Leighton's naive and rather old-fashioned song cycle 'Earth. Sweet Earth"."